The Dark Side of Love
by Syphos
Summary: In an international Pokémon competition, two "Dark" Trainers meet, spend more and more time together and you can guess three times what happens next...


I think that's where you put a disclaimer:

So: (this is my first time writing a disclaimer so I hope I do everything according to rules)

**DEAR NINTENDO PEOPLE! I THANK YOU FOR COMING UP WITH THIS BRILLIANT FRANCHISE, CALLED POKÉMON AND AT THE SAME TIME, I HUMBLY BEG YOU TO LEND ME YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (NOT ALL, I NEED ONLY A COUPLE OF CHARACTERS AND SOME POKÉMON) AND FORGIVE ME FOR WRITING THIS STORY. I DO NOT OWN POKEMON(TM), NOR ANYTHING RELATED TO IT, NOR NINTENDO, NOR JAPAN.**

**どうもありがとうございました**

**The Dark Side of Love**

The Ever Grande City was overfilled with people. It was the biggest crowd in history of the city. This, however, had a perfectly explainable reason: for the first time ever, in any city of the Pokémon world, an international Pokémon league competition was held. So for the next two months, Ever Grande City wasn't just hosting Hoenn league competitors as usual, but people from all over the world. Tens of thousands of people applied and after the preliminary rounds held in their native regions, now there stood top 256 trainers worldwide. It was like Champions league times hundred. Every single competitor had a status of celebrity, at least in their native regions.

But 254 are of no importance right now, as this story revolves around merely two trainers. The first one was a beautiful, platinum-blonde-haired girl, trainer of Dark-type Pokémon, which was always accompanied by her Houndoom. The girls' name was Karen and she was just one of only six people who qualified from Kanto/Johto region. Just for information, the others were Dragon Master Lance, who just swept the floor with his rivals and finished preliminary round first, far ahead from the others. Sabrina and Karen were next, although considerably worse, but finished very close. However, the competition for the remaining three places was very tight, but finally, much to everyone's surprise, young gym leader from Violet City, Flying Master Falkner, calm kimono girl, Grass Mistress Erika and clever, doll-collecting Ice Mistress Lorelei stood above the others.

The other important character of this story was a young man, dressed in a very formal way, but with a haircut which was anything but formal. Most of his head was bald, but on the top of his head was a bright red mohawk. He was also, like Karen, a Dark-type trainer. His name was Sidney, and he was a local, since his native region was Hoenn. Three other people qualified from Hoenn, the best was of course famous Steel Master Steven, Dragon Master Drake was not far behind, next up was Flying Mistress Winona and last but not least was Sidney.

This wraps up for introduction, and by now the first round had already begun. In the next week, while the first round was on, all the trainers from Kanto, Johto and Hoenn were successful and not even one of them dropped from further competition. In order to celebrate that, they decided to go on a dinner together, since those three regions were relatively close, at least closer to each other than to other regions.

Upon arriving to the restaurant, the champions seated themselves, and coincidentally, our two Dark-type trainers ended up sitting next to one another.

"Sidney," did the male part of the Dark scene introduce himself.

"Oh, hi. I'm Karen. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I've heard of you. Aren't you also a Dark-type trainer?"

"What do you mean also? Oh, you are too?"

"Yeah, I just adore them."

"Reeally? This is incredible. I've been in love with Dark-types for my whole life, and I haven't found anyone who would like them as much as I. It was a pretty lonely life," she added with a sad voice.

"Oh, don't worry. I have about the same life story. By the way, which is your favourite Dark-type Pokémon?"

"I can't really say favourite, because I have two, which I like an exceptionally lot. Houndoom and Umbreon. What about yours?"

"Very similar to you, I also have two. Absol and Mightyena. Though I think I prefer Absol a bit. It was my very first Pokémon."

"Well, to think it over, I guess I'd also choose Houndoom over Umbreon."

The talk continued through the whole night, and after many hours, it was time to say goodbye and go to their respective hotels.

"Bye, Karen. It was really great meeting you," said Sidney, blushing: "I hope we meet again as soon as possible."

"Well, how about tomorrow then?" she asked smilingly: "We could take our Pokémon for a morning walk. Ever Grande City has huge parks."

Sidney would have blushed even more, if that would be possible. He uttered: "Yes… that would be… awesome."

As she saw he had troubles with speaking, she determined the time and place herself: "Alright, let's meet at 7 a.m. near the closest Pokémon center. Is that OK with you?"

"It's… perfect…"

She giggled at how amusing he was, since he seemed very confident all the time. They said goodbye to each other and went each their own way.

About an hour later, he was lying in bed, thinking, and said to his roommate: "Drake, I think I'm falling in love."

At the same time, she was also lying in bed, thinking, and said to her roommate: "Sabrina, I think I'm falling in love."

Sidney couldn't sleep that night, as he was thinking about his new friend Karen throughout the whole night. He was continuously asking himself what's she doing, or better dreaming of at the moment, but the reality was even better than he could imagine, as she couldn't sleep either.

At around 5 a.m., both of them decided it's useless to resist insomnia, dressed up, took their respective Pokémon and went out to the park. They were walking around the park, not knowing that the other one is there too, but then they suddenly ran into each other near a large fountain, main symbol of the park.

"Oh my god! That's your Absol? It's so beautiful!" Karen nearly went crazy upon seeing Sidney's Pokémon.

"Hey, Karen. Nice to meet you too," Sidney smiled.

"Oops. Sorry, Sidney. I was just so thrilled to see that Absol," Karen apologized, a little ashamed.

"Don't worry, it's no problem at all. Besides, your Houndoom is also very beautiful. Just what's wrong with its horns?"

"She's a girl, dooh."

"Oopsie," Sidney blushed.

"It's OK, I forgive you for now," Karen said in laughter.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Sidney faked gratitude.

Meanwhile, Absol and Houndoom started getting to know each other, and at least to a human eye, it seemed like they developed a crush. The whole time, they were walking very close together.

Sidney leaned to Houndoom: "It's really nice and all that you like my Absol, but I have to tell you something," he continued in whisper: "He's castrated."

"WHAT?" Karen jumped.

"Hey, relax. I'm just kidding. He lost his balls in a car accident."

Karen almost dropped dead from laugher: "Oh my god. I actually believed that for a mo-ment."

Sidney replied: "Yeah, I'm good at fooling people. That's one of the reasons I started to train Dark-types."

"I see. And what are the others?"

"It's just one. There was a guy in elementary school who took over my girlfriend, and he was a Psychic-type trainer. So it was only obvious that I'd choose the Darks. I just love the feeling when my Absol bites his Alakazam's head off. Just figuratively, of course."

"Ha-ha, that's interesting. It's the same with me, I also chose Dark-types because I like fooling people. And of course because I just fell in love with my Houndour girl upon seeing her," she smiled in a way you could just see how's she going back to the past with her memories.

By now, they heard the bells, which rang through whole Ever Grande City and called everyone to breakfast at the Pokémon league HQ. This was of course just for 128 people who came through first round, but this was achieved by both Sidney and Karen.

"I can't believe it's already 8 o'clock. Is it possible that we've been walking for over two hours?" Sidney said, astonished.

"Well, look how time flies when you're having fun," Karen winked to Sidney.

Three weeks have passed since the competition started, and instead of 256 trainers who started it, there were now three rounds behind them, thus leaving only the best thirty-two competitors. Many of Kanto/Johto and Hoenn trainers dropped out by now, but oddly, both Sidney and Karen stayed. It was probably the power of love that kept them going. Or gameshark, who knows.

Anyway, in those weeks, they spent a huge lot of time together, and what started as a friendship, has grown through a crush to a real kind-of-love.

And as we all know, when there's love, there's making love. And in order to do that, they had to sleep over somewhere. This was everything but a problem, since hotel rooms were large and Drake was out anyway, so Sidney had his room just for himself.

So, one evening of the third weekend, just before her round four match, Karen visited Sidney for the dinner. He learned to cook while on vacation in France, so he knew some stuff about it. At least he knew how to prepare snails. And French fries. Which aren't French, by the way. They're kind-of Belgian or something. Not that anyone should care about them. The Belgians of course, French fries are OK.

But don't worry, he didn't prepare her snails, instead of that they ordered some food from McDonald's nearby (Yes, they have those in Ever Grande City too).

Karen was just eating a hamburger, when Sidney panicked: "What are you doing? I bought that for the Pokémon. I made us some real food." He finished the sentence while walking to the oven and taking out a whole fried chicken, some beefsteaks, grilled shrimps and a whole palette of side dishes. They were also eating some vegetables, naturally, but these aren't worth mentioning.

"Phew, I was quite afraid for a moment. I mean, fast food for dinner? And furthermore, a ro-mantic one? It just doesn't go together."

"I know, I went through three cooking classes, PLUS my grandma used to teach me."

"Oh, what happened to her?"

"My Absol killed her by mistake. We were training his Night slash, and she was watching, and then Absol missed the apple he should cut, and hit grandma."

"Oh dear…"

"Yeah, but at least he hit SOMETHING. You can't say he missed."

"You're kidding again, right?"

"Partly. Grandma is dead, but she died because she was very ill."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But how can you joke with stuff like that?"

"Well, she's dead anyway, so why shouldn't I?"

"Because, you know… it's not right…"

"Come on, we're Dark-type trainers. Wrong's better."

After they finished their meal, they first led their partners, Houndoom and Absol to a private room for two, which just happened to be in a basement. And then the second part of the dinner started, which I have no intention to describe.

The next morning Sidney went to the basement to feed Absol and Houndoom, but he spotted a weird-looking egg-ish kind of thing, which seemed like an egg to him.

"Hey, Karen!" he shouted: "I think we're gonna get a baby!"

"WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? YOU SAID YOU'RE WEARING A CONDOM!"

"Not you! Your Houndoom! Seems like she and my Absol were as active as us the other night. If not more."

"Oh dear, but they're two completely different Pokémon. What on earth will come out of this?"

"I'd say something that is white, but has horns. Like a Seel, for example."

"WHAT THE FUCK? I was serious!"

"Sorry, but I thought you're joking since it's very obvious what will the baby be like. Think about it. Species of the offspring is the same as its mother, so it will be a Houndour. However, it can have some egg moves, which the father passes down. And I think one of egg moves available is Pursuit, which can be used by my Absol. So, to wrap things up, the baby will be a little Houndour which will be able to use Pursuit. That's it, nothing harmful."

"Oh, I forgot about it. Well, thanks for calming me down."

"No problem," said Sidney and smiled: "By the way, I think your match will be up soon. Would you mind if I walk you to the stadium? I'd love to see it."

"Mind? No way, I'd be more than happy if you did that," Karen laughed.

"All right, then let's go."

The stadium was filled with people. And it wasn't just any stadium, there were almost twenty thousand seats around it, and gigantic big-screens. There was Karen on the left side, and one random, but very powerful trainer on the right. He was actually a Ghost-type trainer, so Karen should have some advantage, but the reality was that he was one hell-of-experienced trainer, so this theoretical advantage had no meaning in practice whatsoever. And so the battle started.

"Go, Umbreon!" shouted Karen.

He called out: "Go, Sableye!"

This was tough, as Sableye was also part-Dark-type, so Umbreon's only offensive attack, Dark Pulse, won't score a super effective hit, which would help a whole lot, considering Umbreon's offensive capabilities.

"Umbreon, use Double Team!"

"Quickly, Sableye, use Taunt!"

This was devastating for Umbreon, since now she couldn't use any non-offensive attacks. So Dark Pulse was her only choice.

"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!"

"Sableye, now you use Double Team"

Dark Pulse hit, however, but it didn't really have a significant effect on Sableye.

"Sableye, go with Night Shade!"

"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse once more!"

This time Dark Pulse missed.

"Sableye, Night Shade!"

"Umbreon, Dark Pulse again!"

This time Dark Pulse hit, and Sableye already seemed a little injured, but Night Shade was painful as well. By now also Taunt wore off.

"Umbreon, use Confuse Ray!"

"Sableye, use Taunt!"

This time luck was on Karen's side, as Umbreon managed to land confusion status before she could get taunted, and Sableye hit itself in confusion.

"Great, now use Toxic, Umbreon!"

"Sableye, use Night Shade!"

"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse!"

"Sableye, once more, NIGHT SHADE!"

The outcome of this battle was exceedingly peculiar, as Sableye first knocked out Umbreon with its attack, but then got knocked out itself because of the poison-induced damage. So both trainers were left with two Pokémon.

"Go, Banette!" called the trainer on the right side.

"Go, Murkrow!" Karen responded.

"Banette, use Thunderbolt!"

"Murkrow, Sucker Punch!"

The Sucker Punch was devastating but Banette managed to stay strong and used an extremely powerful Thunderbolt, which knocked out Murkrow instantly.

"Very well, Murkrow return. Go, my dear Houndoom!"

"Houndoom, use Flamethrower!"

Banette couldn't even move. It was so dead.

"Alright! Now for my final Pokémon! Go, Gengar!"

"Gengar, use Focus Blast!"

"Houndoom, use Dark Pulse!"

Well, Gengar was faster. This of course meant that Karen was defeated and dropped out of further competiton.

"I'm sorry about that loss," said Sidney after they saw each other.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm actually very glad, I came among top 32, this competition was more than successful for me."

Soon after that, Sidney was up for his next match. But unlike Karen, his match was a against an extremely powerful Fighting-type user. They were both on their respective places and the match could have begun.

"Go, Mightyena!" called out Sidney.

"To fight, Gallade!"

"Hmm, a Gallade. This one shouldn't be too hard to beat. I just can't let my guard down," thought Sidney by himself.

"Gallade, use Close Combat!"

"Mightyena, use Crunch!"

However, Gallade was faster, and Mightyena was down with one hit.

"So, I'll have to beat you with speed, huh?" thought Sidney by himself: "Well alright then. Go, Sharpedo!" He said the last sentence out loud, obviously.

"Sharpedo, use Crunch!"

"Gallade, Close Combat again!"

As weird as it seemed, Gallade was faster again, and Sharpedo was, like Mightyena, down with one hit.

"Shit, I only have my Absol left?" thought Sidney by himself: "Well all right then, go Absol!"

"Gallade, Close Combat!"

"All right, Absol, use Sucker Punch!"

Although Sucker Punch normally wouldn't score a One-hit knock-out, Gallade's defenses were halved by now, and Absol's attack beat the hell out of Gallade. And as he was lying on the ground, Sidney spotted a blue scarf, wrapped around Gallade's neck.

"So that was the reason for you extraordinary speed, huh?" thought Sidney: "Well, I must admit it's a good strategy."

"One casualty?" smirked the other trainer: "I can sure live with that. Go, Machamp!"

"Let's finish this. Machamp, use Cross Chop!"

"Absol, use Sucker Punch!"

Absol's Dark-type attack naturally didn't do much damage to Machamp, while the powerful, critical hit Cross Chop, knocked out Absol instantly. And so the match was over.

Sidney ran to Karen: "I know exactly how you felt," he said: "I'm also not sad, but rather happy to come so high up."

Karen and Sidney approached each other, hugged and kissed. While being as close together as possible, she whispered in his ear: "Well, we did outstandingly well at the tournament of our lives, plus we've found each other. What more could we wish for?"


End file.
